


I'm With You

by s0meperson



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen, Late Night Conversations, Uncertainty, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-30 00:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8511871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s0meperson/pseuds/s0meperson
Summary: It's been a long night for Judy Hopps. The town's gotten restless, and she's been running all over the place trying to keep the peace. After all that, she just wanted to drop into a long and comfortable sleep.
Then she got the phone call.





	

Rubber. That’s what Judy’s legs felt like as she climbed up those stairs to her apartment, late that night. Her long ears felt like lead weights as they drooped, her eyes stung with every blink, and throat burned with every dry swallow she took. Normally, her days consisted of settling disputes, tailing down suspects, or sorting through paperwork. Today, like most days recently, consisted of all three activities, and on a much higher scale than usual. She fished around in her right pocket, pulling out her keys, before unlocking her door and trudging inside. With a sigh, she lazily dropped pieces of her uniform on the floor, slowly making her way towards her bed. She then gracelessly dropped down onto it, drawing in a deep breath as she dragged herself on top of it, lying peacefully on top of the covers.

It was at that moment when she heard a small chime, accompanied by a slight buzz on her leg. She forced her eyes open and reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. She rolled onto her back and looked at the screen, which showed a text message indicator from her favorite fox Nick. The message was short and simple: ‘You Awake?’. A smile grew on her face.

‘Yeah, gonna sleep soon tho. What’s up?’ She didn’t wait long before there was a reply.

‘Can I call you?’

Her eyes grew wide and her face straightened out as she sat up in bed. ‘Sure,’ she replied.

It didn’t take long for her phone to start ringing and showing Nick’s smiling face on screen. “Hey there,” she began with a bit of a yawn. “What’s up?”

There was a brief pause on the other end. “You sure it’s okay to talk?” he asked. “If you’re tired, you can sleep.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Don’t worry,” she assured him. “Just a long day at work.”

“Okay… how was work, anyway?”

“It was alright. Just a really big workload dumped on me, and everyone else at the station.” She paused to stretch. “Now enough about me. What’s on your mind, Nick?”

There was a shaky breath on the other end. “I, uh… I needed to talk to someone.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s… it’s everything right now.”

Judy’s eyebrow arched. “Like what?”

“I mean… you said yourself that you had a lot of work today, right? There’s been a lot going on around the city lately.”

Judy took a moment and reflected on that statement. She then started to think about the escalating rate of incidents around town, recently. “Yeah… there really have been, huh? I guess it didn’t really register to me.” She tapped her fingers on the bed. “Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know. I really don’t. There’s been a lot happening close to home. Some prey mammals are getting out of control. Finnick even told me that there were some guys pounding on the door to his van. He was just about ready to grab his bat and start swinging, it really freaked him out.” There was a pause, followed by a shaky breath. “I’m kinda scared, Judy. Like, I really don’t know if I can walk around town the same anymore. It’s all I’ve been able to think about, and I don’t know what to do.”

Judy opened her mouth to respond, but stopped and looked away, sorting through her mind for an answer.

“Hello? Judy?”

“Y-yeah, I’m here, I just… I wish I could just instantly make it all better for you.”

“Talking is enough help, I think. That’s what I hear, anyway.”

“Then I’m glad I’m able to do this much for you.”

“Any chance you could hook me up with a rent-free apartment, while you’re at it?” he replied with an uneasy chuckle. “I’m sorry, you’re already knee-deep in this, and definitely don’t need me telling you everything that you already know.”

“No, it’s fine, Nick. Really.” She leaned back onto her bed. “Do you want me to come over, or something? Act like a security blanket?”

Another small laugh on Nick’s end. “That’s okay, Carrots. I’ve got enough blankets here.”

“You sure? It wouldn’t be any trouble.”

Right on cue, another pause. “I’ll be okay. I just… I really, really had to call someone.”

Judy took a turn to pause. “Hey, how was your day, anyhow? Before all this, obviously.”

“Me? Well… I kinda walked around town a bit.”

“Really?”

“It was before all this, anyway. There was a pickup game of basketball I watched for a bit. Was actually pretty intense. This ram had the moves I tell you, I’ve never seen anything like it. Then… of course, things started to get kinda hectic, so I headed back home. Kinda ended up staying here for the rest of the day.” He waited before continuing. “I almost wasn’t going to call you. I thought I’d just get over it, and it’s just something that’ll pass. But then I just sat up in bed, thinking of what could happen next. I felt like I was going to go crazy if I didn’t do something. I guess… not knowing what’s going to happen has me most on edge, y’know?”

Judy drew in a deep breath. “Nick, I want you to remember something for me, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Things are pretty hectic now, that’s a fact. They might become better, and they might become worse, we don’t know for sure. Sometimes it might be downright scary around you, and you could be too frightened to go outside. I want you to know that it’s perfectly okay for you to feel like this. That you don’t have to be afraid of feeling scared… if that makes sense.”

“Kinda.”

“Anyways, if you feel scared about what’s going on now, if you want to hide away for a while, that’s okay. You can do that, if it helps you feel safe. At the same time, you don’t have to go it alone. If things happening now take you to the breaking point, don’t be afraid to reach out to others. Despite whatever’s going on, there’s still a tomorrow full of potential. You have plenty of friends who will help you through all of this.”

“Like you?”

Judy smiled. “Yeah… like me. Don’t hesitate to call me up if you need support. If you do need that security blanket, I’ll come running over and cover you up from all the bad elements.”

“That’s gonna be a pretty small cover, though.”

“Well, excuse me, mister.” she scoffed. “I’m more than enough to cover you up from the cold.”

Nick laughed. “I’ll keep that offer in mind, Carrots.”

Both parties fell silent.

“Are you going to be okay, Nick?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Tonight really freaked me out, but talking to you has helped me a lot… Thank you, Judy.”

With a big smile, she replied, “I’m glad to hear that.”

Nick drew in a deep breath. “Well, I think I’ll let you head off to sleep now. Do you work tomorrow?”

“Actually, I have tomorrow off. Do you want to hang out?”

“Yeah, I really do. Maybe I could use another blanket here, after all.”

“Well, I’d be more than happy to be of service, then.” She rolled onto her side. “I’ll head over to your place first, and we can go from there, if that makes you feel comfortable.”

“That’s fine by me.”

“Great! I’ll text you when I’m on my way, but expect me in the afternoon. We’re gonna make it a great day tomorrow.”

“Like how you wanted to make the world a better place?”

Judy paused, then grinned. “Yeah, just like that.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it. Good night, Carrots.”

“G’night, Nick. Remember that I’m with you.”

“I will.”

The call then ended. She allowed herself to sigh again as she placed her phone on her nightstand. Then she looked outside, seeing the starry sky above. She drew in another breath. “You’re gonna have to be strong for so many mammals, Judy,” she told herself. “You can do this. They need you more than ever now.” With a nod, Judy finally closed her eyes and gradually drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Today's events left me unsettled, and made me realize that people like me need to step up to be support for those who feel down, or just have a terrible outlook right now. If I can just make one person feel at peace, then my work is done. I just hope people won't give up and will keep moving forward today. Just wanted to quickly get my words translated into a story as well as I could, so I apologize for any mistakes within.
> 
> (Please do not leave comments about today's events. That's a discussion for another place, not here.)


End file.
